tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46058360971543056782018-03-06T11:35:44.781+02:00ivy pressNatalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-27241416339805151342012-05-09T18:32:00.000+03:002012-05-10T22:32:57.790+03:00a reflection
Bags are packed, apartment cleaned out, and mind is home bound. It's hard to believe that nearly four months have come and gone so quickly; but yet, so much has happened in this period of time. People ask whether or not we are excited to go home, but really there isn't an easy answer. The best thing I can say is that it is bitter-sweet. Of course we miss our home and all of its Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-964380371089446712012-05-09T16:19:00.000+03:002012-05-09T16:19:09.305+03:00Egypt
The day after Vadim finished his finals we, along with parents, took off to Egypt for a little rest and relaxation by the Red Sea. It was about a three and a half hour drive (this was my nap time) to the border of Israel and Egypt and then just 20 more minutes to the resort. Our resort was on the Sinai Peninsula so we had the sea in the back yard of the resort and the mountains in the front Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-29038984316726027862012-04-27T23:33:00.001+03:002012-05-09T16:19:48.117+03:00a day-cation
Vadim's parents have come into town so we decided to take a vacation to the "mineral beach" on the Dead Sea for the day, making it a day-cation! And oh, was it a wonderful day!
I realized that the Dead Sea is a beach bums haven. Why you may ask? Oh, I'll gladly share. The weather is perfect there, it barely ever rains and it stays warm not just dry. Also, the water is cold enough to cool youNatalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-16809366820932008772012-04-24T23:24:00.000+03:002012-04-24T23:58:56.796+03:00jordan: petra
We had the opportunity to visit the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, aka, country of Jordan. Did you know that it was a "kingdom?" -I sure didn't until we came here.
The four days that we were in Jordan, we pretty much traveled the entire country. But the highlight of the trip was our visit to Petra.
Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And let me tell you, it sure is a must see! Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-32349608993482737212012-04-16T21:13:00.000+03:002012-04-16T21:13:28.160+03:00holy week
This year was the best Holy Week and Easter of my entire life. One can not be in the same city where Jesus suffered, died and rose again, and not be moved. Now I am not referring to some momentary inflated feelings, but more about the deeper understanding of the words and places of the Bible as they become tangible. Where the words that you have read most of your life, come off the pages and Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-61166504046783129202012-04-10T23:19:00.000+03:002012-04-10T23:19:11.773+03:00galilee part II
Continuation of our 4-day trip to the northern parts of Israel.
Snowy caps of Mount Hermon. Some snow stays throughout the summer, but what melts of it feeds into the Jordan River.
An ancient olive press
This mud-brick building dates back to the time of the Patriarchs, roughly 4,000 years old.
Below are a few pictures from Caesarea Philippi. It was a place of Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-92109274462914585372012-04-06T14:45:00.001+03:002012-04-06T15:38:00.802+03:00galilee part I
Our trip to the Galilee region of Israel was simply fantastic. We roamed the northern part of the country for four days. One thing to note about Israel is the fact that the country is very diverse in its vegetation, geography, and landscape. The south is very arid and dry like the dessert; the north is lush, green, and full of growing crops; the west is rainier, green, and by the Mediterranean Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-85569584983496819592012-03-28T20:32:00.000+02:002012-03-28T20:32:23.423+02:00the best part of waking up...
...is NOT Folgers in your cup, it's Starbucks in your little French press! And how does one obtain Starbucks coffee in a Starbucks barren land? In fact, this land serves instant coffee in their cafes and where you get a cappuccino when you order a latte and you get a cappuccino when you order a cappuccino. Oh silly people. But who is complaining when you have your sweet friends send you a piece Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-7311555471275402462012-03-25T22:17:00.001+02:002012-03-25T22:18:20.199+02:00a non-kosher sunny day
This past Saturday was such a treat! We traveled two hours to the Galilee region for a fun day in the hot springs plus a cook out. Although, the hot springs were more like warm springs, but no one was complaining considering that it was probably close to 80 degrees that day. Plus the clear water was absolutely marvelous! The last time I saw such water was when we traveled to Bermuda several Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-13810514227612618262012-03-16T13:17:00.001+02:002012-03-16T21:48:43.819+02:00venturing out and about
The husband and i had some time on our hands so we decided to take the
opportunity to visit the Israel Museum. One of the exhibits is the "Shrine of the Book," which is a collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Perhaps some of you went to a similar exhibit when some of the scrolls came to the U.S.? While we were at the museum, we saw many people dressed up in costumes because they were celebratingNatalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-20167419696490618742012-03-15T18:49:00.000+02:002012-03-15T22:58:18.560+02:00floating, hiking, learning
Have you ever had a "oh-my-goodness, I-erased-all-the-pictures-from-the-camera-before-downloading-them-onto-the-computer" scare? Well, that's what I had with this set. My heart sank to my ankles, but then my short term memory decided that it would kick in (after I broke out into a sweat) and remind me that I indeed did download them already. Close call.
So this was our first overnight trip Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-9903389689023470882012-03-06T21:07:00.001+02:002012-03-16T13:19:02.955+02:00living water and holy of holies
This past weekend was surely a lovely one! It was warm (most of the time), it included floating, catching a tan, hiking, and fellowship. But since I am behind on posting, you will have to wait for all the sweet details of this weekend for a few more days.
Today I am concentrating on the trip that we took to the land of Manasseh who was the son of Joseph. Joseph being the youngest of Jacob's Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-50705987278025179942012-03-02T19:52:00.001+02:002012-03-16T13:19:13.024+02:00update: photographs
May I just say how much I love Fridays?! I truly enjoy them because it's a day where we both stay home, cook, catch up on things, etc. It's a complete day of rest (cooking is not considered work, right?:). I will also add that we have totally switched over to Friday and Saturday being the weekend and Sunday being the first day of the week. Ok, now unto the pictures.
This set was taken over 2Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-25689649900909715992012-02-29T18:56:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:19:29.031+02:00milk, honey, and then some
The sunshine and the 70 degree weather sure did keep us out and about the last several of days. But let envy not take over your heart, dear snow-bound reader, the rain and cold have dragged me back inside. So here I am with a blanket around my shoulders, the heater on, and a hot cup of tea with in arm's reach; ready to finally share some pictures and a few words on where we have been and what Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-31771047546606997802012-02-22T21:42:00.003+02:002012-03-16T13:19:39.482+02:00a belated updateAfter receiving a few emails asking if I was okay because I have not updated the blog in a week, I decided to stop the MIA and give you a quick update.
Since my last post we have visited the Mount of Olives (from where Jesus ascended into heaven), we stood and looked into the land of "milk" and then looked at the "honey." We visited a few palaces that Herod built for himself. This guy was a Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-67577920277754577472012-02-10T01:01:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:20:19.001+02:00classroom time part II
Alrighty boys and girls, ready to start class? :)
As I have already mentioned many times, our class went on a walk on Sunday. We walked for about 11 hours and covered several thousands of years of ancient history. When you think of the ancient times, do you believe that structures dating thousands of years are still standing? Do you think that people know where each event in the Bible took Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-9857636128649136152012-02-07T20:57:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:20:36.126+02:00classroom time part IOur class was out all day Sunday walking through much of Jerusalem visiting sites such as: the Pools of Bethesda, the steps where Jesus taught, ruins of the temple, Hezekiah's tunnel and the City of David. It was in the City of David (I'll explain why here in the next post) where God really stirred my heart again and showed me that He works in ways we do not understand. In fact, He tends to Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-70014399842953707202012-02-04T22:00:00.001+02:002012-03-16T13:20:46.151+02:00an updateThe husband and I got the case of the terrible common cold. So that means we have stayed indoors, with a heap of blankets, and eating plenty of soup (not to mention the 20 gallons of tea we each drank). I put a little too much pepper into the soup, so it sure helped to clear those sinuses:) The weather, like us, has also been kind of lousy (of course not as bad as the subzero temperatures that Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-53785223229859049112012-02-01T23:39:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:20:56.567+02:00our cozy little campus
Our school, Jerusalem University College, is nicely nestled into the side of Mount Zion overlooking the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna Valley). However, before the school was built, one of the walls of the Old City ran up to the property of the college and a watch tower stood where the school now stands. As a matter of fact, the school's office is built into the remains of the tower.
In 1853 Bishop Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-70966002828627681582012-01-30T16:01:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:21:05.697+02:00the weekend postOne of the interesting things about this country is how serious they take 'Sabbath,' or the day of rest. Most everything closes down every Friday around 2 p.m. and does not re-open until 8 p.m. Saturday. Shops, markets, restaurants, stores, busses, post office, all follow these "rules." Granted, not EVERYONE abides to this custom but the majority do. Therefore, you are practically FORCED to rest Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-42737893432371285182012-01-27T01:31:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:21:16.377+02:00snippets from todayToday we ventured out once again to the "Old City" where we found our college (Jerusalem University College) on Mount Zion. We also walked around the entire Old City which consists of 4 quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian. The entire city is enclosed with great stone walls that measure out to be almost 2.5 miles around the 4 quarters. The "Western Wall" of the city walls is commonly Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-39769247120284690662012-01-25T22:20:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:21:29.474+02:00our humble abod
So here are some of the promised pictures. This set is of our home that is located on Gideon Street (pronounced gid-OWN) in the neighborhood of Bak'a, Jerusalem. It's a neighborhood filled with apartment buildings, private homes, cafes, shops, and restaurants. All this is within a short, few minute walk from our building.
Our apartment is slightly different then what we are used to in the Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-37397156228838695702012-01-24T01:54:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:21:39.002+02:00lessons learnedToday was a day of learning and exploring. We started the day off early and went to a few stores to buy some essentials since our suitcases still haven't arrived:( We walked many streets, visited a great cafe over looking the "Old City," and learned a few things:
1. Watch where you are going. If you are walking the street and observing the scenery, don't expect road/sidewalk construction to haveNatalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4605836097154305678.post-75627309489537970772012-01-22T23:39:00.000+02:002012-03-16T13:21:49.516+02:00en route and first glanceOk, so here is my very first post on my very first blog. I feel slightly outdated since blogging has been around for sometime now and I have just caught up with the trend. Nonetheless, traveling is the perfect reason to start blogging, right? To all those professional bloggers, do forgive my newbie ways.
Travel:
We had a bittersweet flight experience while on our way to Israel. Our first flight Natalyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16032732961601414728noreply@blogger.com3